


One Shot: Hyrule Builds a Raft

by Annavanpie



Series: Linked Universe One Shots [3]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 13:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20621954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annavanpie/pseuds/Annavanpie
Summary: Hyrule builds a raft.





	One Shot: Hyrule Builds a Raft

Hyrule cracked his knuckles, eyebrows furrowed and mouth slightly tipping into a frown in concentration as he stood in front of the slow-moving waters of a river. Seven large logs sat next to him. Wrapped around his left shoulder was a long, thin rope.

“Alright, 34 seconds. Time me,” He stated, his words deadly serious. He was going to beat his record this time. He had to.

Eight other heroes stood to the side, each watching intently, in their own ways. Legend had his nose up-turned, a skeptical look on his face. Still, intrigue could be seen in his eyes. Sky was enraptured, an eager look plastered on his face. Nothing could tear his gaze from the scene. Wind was equally excited, cheering Hyrule on with loud shouts as he stood next to the others. Time stood tall with his arms crossed, a small smile on his face as he took in the commotion. Wild sat on the ground watching curiously, while Twilight stood next to him tapping his foot impatiently. Warriors was leaning against a tree, a smug gleam in his eye. Four stood away from the rest of the group, closer to Hyrule, holding a red clock. Concern and interest both shared space on the shortest hero’s face. 

“You sure about this?” Four started, “Not too late to back out-”

“Oh yes it’s too late. He can’t back out now,” Warriors interrupted with a grin, “I’ve got money on this. Don’t let me down, Hyrule.”

Hyrule looked at him, eye twitching, “_You_ bet _me_ that I couldn’t do it.”

“Yup, sounds about right,” Warriors started, “Don’t let me down,” he repeated. His smile grew larger. Hyrule rolled his eyes, but he got into a ready stance. He wouldn’t let anything distract him. He couldn’t.

“Alright,” Four sounded hesitant, but he began the countdown regardless. “Three…two…one…go!” He shouted, and Hyrule took off.

Quickly he went about moving the logs side-by-side, using his power bracelet to easily move them without breaking a sweat. He quietly cursed when he realized how warped and uneven the logs were. Some of them even had branches poking out of them. Why did they have to make this so hard? He shook off his frustration as he felt eight sets of eyes staring him down. He wasn’t about to fail in front of the greatest heroes in all of existence. So he pulled out his hammer.

He heard someone murmur in confusion. He didn’t bother to check who it was. Twilight, maybe. It didn’t matter. He went to work breaking off the branches and evening out the logs using the hammer, which made for a surprisingly good axe. Perhaps it was magical. He could never really tell, but he had used it before to chop down some trees that had been in his way. Somehow. If it worked, it worked.

And it worked. In no time at all, the logs were sitting clean and even. He even used the hammer to form notches in the logs so they would fit together better. Hyrule didn’t take any time to sigh with relief.

He pulled the rope off his shoulder and his sword out of its hilt, using its blade to cut the rope into smaller pieces. He held in a grunt of annoyance when it took him a moment to cut it apart, but finally after what felt like ages, he got it to cut cleanly. He finished by searing the ends with his fire magic. Hyrule pulled four of the logs into the water, thankful that his boots allowed him to walk on the water’s surface and not slog through the mud beneath. He hated getting wet, anyway. He couldn’t swim.

Hyrule could hear Wind cheering for him behind him. He felt his face grow red. He ignored it and stuck his tongue out in concentration. He could do this. Setting the logs in place he tied knots around the four corners, creating a sort of box in the water. Two logs sat parallel at the base while the other two sat perpendicular on top, holding them together. He felt time slow down as he tied the logs into place, moving faster than he had ever moved before. Was he using magic? No. How much time did he have left? Not enough. Was Legend still watching? Doesn’t matter. It definitely matters.

_Stop thinking so much,_ he thought, then he thought, _Now you’re thinking about thinking too much. Stop that,_ his hands moved on their own.

_I’m not gonna make it,_ He moved back and forth from the water to the surface. _I’m not gonna make it,_ Hyrule pulled the last of the logs in and setting them in place on top of the base logs, setting a line up of five logs at the top. _I’m not gonna make it,_ He tied them together with the rest of the rope, making sure that everything was set firmly in place before finishing one last knot and pulling it tight. He pulled up his hands in a motion of surrender and shouted, “Done!” then he moved out of the water and collapsed on the ground, finally remembering to breathe. _Did I make it?_

“You did wonderfully, Hyrule!” Sky exclaimed, kneeling down to a planking position to meet Hyrule’s level. He flashed him a large, cheeky smile. Hyrule felt his lips twinge in a smile in return.

Wind bounced up and down, “That was great! You have to show me how you do that!” He mimicked Hyrule’s movements in the water, and hopping on the raft. Hyrule lifted his head to watch him and then dropped it back on the ground in embarrassment.

“I’ve never seen you move so fast! Are you sure you didn’t drink any elixirs before you started?” Wild asked him, grinning as well. Hyrule nodded.

Time held out a hand to help Hyrule up, “T’was very impressive, my friend,” Hyrule took his hand and pulled himself up off the ground, shaking out his jitters.

Twilight stepped forward, “I’ll admit it, it was pretty neat seein’ you use your magic like that. Even if I don’t get it m’self.”

Hyrule laughed sheepishly. He was sure his face was as red as a tomato by now, “I could teach you, if you wanted,” he said quietly.

Legend was next, walking up to Hyrule with the same skeptical frown as before. He paused for a moment, staring Hyrule down before finally speaking, “I knew you had it in you. I’m impressed,” he gave a small, awkward smile, and then turned around and walked away. Hyrule’s smile grew larger.

Four tapped Hyrule’s arm, and before Hyrule was able to turn he was tackled into a large hug. Four broke away, his eyes bright and tinged with red, “That was absolutely incredible!” His voice was pitched higher than normal, “You build rafts like a… like a…” His eyes shifted to violet, “Like a professional,” his voice went deeper, “Amazing effort out there, your technique was flawless,” then his eyes went green and his voice shifted once more, “I’ll bet’cha next time, you could go even faster… though if you did that you’d probably end up becoming nothing but a blur!” And then his eyes shifted blue, “It was cool,” he finished simply, nodding and crossing his arms.

Hyrule blinked a couple times, mouth slightly hanging open, “…Thanks,” he finally said.

“Hold up, hold up,” Warriors shouted over the commotion, causing everyone to quiet down, “You’re not off the hook yet, oh humble traveler,” He tapped his chin, “Four, what was his time?”

Four rolled his eyes, “That doesn’t matter,” he started.

Hyrule’s heart nearly stopped, “Four what was my time?” If he hadn’t beaten his record, this all would’ve been for nothing…

“Fine, but don’t shoot the messenger,” Four took a deep breath. Wind gave a drumroll. Time assisted.

“Th-“ Yes?

“-ir-” Yes?

“ty-” Was Four really taking an eternity to finish his sentence or was that just Hyrule? 

“-Three,” Four finished, “Thirty-three seconds. Congrats Hyrule.”

It took a moment for Hyrule to register what Four said. It was Wind jumping on him that broke him out of his stupor, “You did it, Hyrule!”

“I did it,” Hyrule whispered. Then he shouted, “I did it!” He turned to Warriors, pointing at him and grinning wildly, “Told you I could do it!”

Warriors had his arms crossed, his smug look never leaving his face, “You sure told me. Good job, Hyrule. I never had any doubts.”

Hyrule’s arm faltered, his face morphing into confusion, and then realization, “You made that bet on purpose,” he whispered.

“Incentive, my friend,” Warriors shrugged, pulling a small bag out of his pocket, “Here, you’ve earned this.”

Hyrule gingerly took the bag. Opening it, rupees glimmered in the exposed sunlight. He smiled, _I’m gonna make so many arrows with these,_ he thought.

“You are more capable than you think,” Warriors clapped him on the back, almost causing Hyrule to drop the bag of rupees, “You just need a little push.”

“Uh, guys?” Legend spoke up, “Hate to break up your little theater drama, but I don’t think this raft’s going to fit all of us,” Legend was standing on the raft, testing it out. Indeed, there was no way nine people were going to fit on there. Two, at most.

“Well, Hyrule,” Time spoke up, “Think you could make us four more? If it’s not too much trouble,” Eight pairs of eyes turned towards the brunette.

Hyrule shrunk into himself, “Uh,” he faltered. He turned to Warriors, who winked at him. Hyrule snorted. He stood tall, “Yeah, definitely. I’ll do it faster this time, too. Thirty seconds for one. Tops.”

“Care to put a wager on that?” Warriors grinned.

Hyrule rolled his eyes, “Only if you’re ready to lose.”

**Author's Note:**

> Cheese, cheese, glorious cheese...  
So I got the prompt "Unorthodox Use of Equipment" from Woods on discord, and at first I couldn't think of anything. But then I remembered I had this WIP on file since March and this could be my motivation to finishing it. So I rewrote the character stuff and actually forced myself to research how to build a raft and here we are. Idk how Hyrule uses a hammer to chop down trees. Wild does the same thing, ask him.


End file.
